Dear Editor,
I noticed something creepy this year about Independence Day coverage, besides the constant fear mongering. The term “Independence Day” was hardly used. It was replaced with “July 4th” or “4th of July”. Fox News had a running theme of veterans, where they were thanking veterans for our freedom, et cetera. NBC used a theme of veterans and immigrants, as in being proud to be American. This has nothing to do with Independence Day. Shouldn’t we be celebrating the breaking away from a monarchy? Really, it’s about a bunch of guys fed up with taxes. I can’t tell if I am reading too much into this. – F.R.
HJL Responds: I don’t think you are reading too much into this. It is apparent that the average person in the United States is far more concerned about partying than they are about government intrusion into their lives or that there is a looming economic crash that is going to severely impact their lives. Witness this video from Mark Dice (pulled from today’s quote) asking California beach-goers what the 4th of July is all about. (Warning: There is inappropriate language in the comments section and you may want to bang your head against a wall after viewing the video.) This is not an isolated phenomena. We now have Cinco de Mayo as a major celebration in the southwest U.S. Really!?! It’s not even that big of a deal in Mexico, but it is here. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, Valentines, Easter, and others all have become subject to the mass hysteria and commercialization. They’ve become just another reason to spend money, increase your debt, and forget the consequences by drinking yourself stupid. As long as the average person is this disconnected from what is happening around them, it will be exceedingly difficult to change the direction the country is heading. Perhaps yesterday’s post on the Odds ‘n Sods about Americans not deserving to celebrate July 4th is true after all.